Doc Watson Posted January 19, 2023 Share #1 Posted January 19, 2023 Sorry I didn't do the 'open box' montage.... I did start this kit in December 2022 and have been slowly working on it when time allows. I have been taking photos as I progress and will get this thread up-to-date. First I dry fitted the main bulkheads and keel. Then glued. I felt no need for any keel clamps as the longitudinal plywood bracing kept the keel straight and the bulkheads at 90 degrees to the keel. I also just added a generous bead of glue around all joints without taking the assembly apart. Then attached the decks with the glue still fresh, ensuring there was no warping of the keel or twisting of the deck. After 24 hours drying the structure was solid. I added a small strip to support the angled bulkhead between the upper and lower decks. And added the slanted bulkhead. Hmm, don't like the visible plywood edge... ...so added a small hardwood strip. I also realised that I should have sanded the bulkhead a little more where it meets the lower deck, but I have a plan for that. I think this 'no plywood edges showing' may be my downfall. Moving forward to the foredeck (is it a foredeck?). I added some wood to the back of the curved piece to aid gluing, the backing was from a wooden coffee stirrer, once dry I carefully cut off the excess from the top and bottom and was careful to make one continuous cut for the trimming of the top. Dry fit of the 'step' I then glued the foredeck and used the trimmed piece mentioned earlier as the 'plywood edge' cover. Sanded the filler carefully down to the deck height and decks complete. I sanded the stepped area back as can be seen by the removed charring on the front bulkhead. Knocklouder and Prowler901 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share #2 Posted January 19, 2023 The bow section has some tight curves and I had some 1/8 balsa so proceeded to block the bow. Prowler901 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share #3 Posted January 21, 2023 I eventually got some 1/4 inch balsa to speed up the process of blocking between the frames. A few hours later... Prowler901 and Knocklouder 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share #4 Posted January 25, 2023 This is my second ship I've started, the first needs more skills than I have at the moment hence the need to start somewhere. The first ship is still waiting for the dockyard foreman to start cutting the keel, deadwood, stern and stem pieces. I also know nothing about the trials of rigging hence the practice ship before a more 'scale' model kit (HMS Fly on its way) and then I will tell the grey foreman to lay the keel of my POF 1/64 scratch build of Victory. 'Golden Star' was in my local hobby shop so decided to hone my skills on this although 1/150 will be fun when rigging. I believe this is a fictitious ship design although still a Brig so will not pay to much attention to the plans and go where the model takes me. I digress..... Blocking continues in preparation for the first layer of planking. The keel pieces will be swapped to cover the laser cut planks on the other sides and a hatch will be created in front of the main mast. As 'modelling for god' seems to be a thing I will plank a false deck below the hatch (as if you could see it through the gratings anyway) before I complete the blocking. I will also glue some balsa over the notches for the masts in the keel and file a notch in each side so the masts sit in the hole created. The dreaded ply edge on the deck... PVA glue fills any small gaps, but who cares it will be under 2 layers of planks! I dry fitted the keel outer pieces prior to gluing and marked the edge in pencil, you can just make it out here. Getting there... When you start to see smooth curves created by the sanding its getting close. And a final shot showing the rabbet pencil line. I'm not creating a rabbet line as the two keel side pieces will do that once attached. Next job is mast supports for the keel. Prowler901 and Knocklouder 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share #5 Posted January 27, 2023 Two balsa block with correct sized groove for the main mast support. Glued in place, care was taken not to use to much glue to avoid gluing the mast in. repeated for the fore mast, its beginning to look like a boat... I can now block between bulkheads 4 and 5... Are we there yet? Knocklouder and Prowler901 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knocklouder Posted January 28, 2023 Share #6 Posted January 28, 2023 That is some amazing detailed work. I willl be following along . Nice Quote Start so you can Finish !! Finished: The Santa Maria -Amati 1:65, La Pinta- Amati 1:65, La Nina -Amati 1:65 , Hannah Ship in a Bottle -1:300 The Sea of Galilee Boat-Scott Miller-1:20 ,The Mayflower Amati 1:60, Viking Ship Drakkar-1:50 non Ship Build: 1972 Ford Sport Custom Truck Current Build: King of the Mississippi-Artesania Latina-1:80 On Hold: HMS Pegasus: Amati Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share #7 Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) Many thanks Knocklouder. I see you have a Viking ship as a future build, get the Billings 1/25 Oseberg kit it looks great and don't ask me how I know. Now where were we..... oh yes, the hatch. Didn't like the kit version so got a 52 x 52 mm hatch. assembled it... Checked for size required and cut to size. Enough left over for another hatch for another day. 50/50 water/PVA brushed onto the grating and left to dry. Then 'clamped' between two scrap balsa blocks as sanding the edges starts. One more grating edge to go and 1mm walnut sheet cut to rough size for the frame. I glued the ends now as one edge of the grating came loose. Then attacked the hull. The aft part of the opening was over frame 5 and so I filed this back at an angle. Once walnut edges were dry sanded them back. Then added the final frame pieces and sanded. For scale here is a 1758 silver penny. Dry fit. And a final shot of the hatch, no final sanding yet as the grating needs to be about 1/2mm lower to get rid of a few 'chips' in the grating. Before the final sanding I will give it another two coats of 50/50 PVA/Water to avoid any more splits in the grating. I was considering planking below the grating, which is why I have left the blocking between frames 5 and 6 till last but once the hull is finally fully blocked it will be very dark so I will just put a balsa sheet down on the longitudinal frame stiffeners to simulate the lower deck. Edited January 30, 2023 by Doc Watson Added another photo. Prowler901 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share #8 Posted January 29, 2023 Don't know why it insists on adding the last photo twice? Tried deleting the copy of the last photo but cant?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share #9 Posted February 5, 2023 For those of you not familiar with a 1758 silver penny's size this might help with scale. And after some P600 sanding.... you can still see the remnants of the chipped grating and a little more sanding is required to remove it (from top left its 5 holes across and 3 down). The grating was 'painted' with another two coats of 50/50 PVA/water and no further chips were created by sanding its thickness down. Decided to put the remaining grating parts to use, I didn't like the hatch cover on the rear deck so opened it out. And made a smaller grating again with 1mm walnut frame. The hole still needs to be enlarged slightly which will be done once all blocking is complete. Also need to remove the 'fur' on the edges of the grating and have a set of carbide files, one of which is about 1mm square which is perfect for this task. I also glued a 1/16 inch sheet of balsa under the main hatch to catch any shadows although stopped short of adding planking underneath. Finally have decided to fully block out the rear of the ship and this and the blocking between frames 5 and 6 are the last to do....where did I put that 5mm balsa... Not to much progress but I'm still working a full time job which is getting in the way, cant wait to retire and spend my days on my hands and knees looking for that part that the carpet monsters have eaten. ccoyle and Prowler901 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccoyle Posted February 6, 2023 Share #10 Posted February 6, 2023 That's got to be among the lowest numbers of bulkheads per unit of hull length that I've ever seen in a kit. You were wise to add filler blocks! Quote Chris Coyle Greer, South Carolina When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk. - Tuco Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Salmson 2, Speeljacht Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Watson Posted February 8, 2023 Author Share #11 Posted February 8, 2023 Final blocking... starting with the stern... And some careful sanding later... And the final gap... And I'm calling the blocking done. Next job is to open up the rear hatch a little and then the P word....planking. Prowler901 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.